1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to touch sensors and, more specifically, to a touch sensor that is self-powering.
2. Description of the Related Art
Tactile (or touch) sensing is a field that is rapidly advancing as driven by vast applications including human-machine interfacing, skin-like electronics, industrial automation, medical procedures, and security systems. Tactile sensors, according to transducing mechanisms, can be divided into following major categories: capacitive, piezoelectric, resistive, and optical. All of these mechanisms rely on deformation of the sensing unit in response to interaction with an object. Such a deformation-dependence poses a challenge in touch detection when very weak interaction is involved. Another major limitation of aforementioned sensors is that they all require an external power supply to generate an electrical parameter for characterizing the output of the sensor; otherwise none of them can normally operate. This causes problems such as power consumption and structural complexity. Besides, fragility, stiffness, and high cost are also common concerns that impair widespread adoption of tactile sensors.
Computers are one of the most indispensable equipment that each and every one of us relies on each day. Accessing the information provided by computer from internet dictates the quality, efficiency and happiness of our work and life. A keyboard, an indispensable component of the system, is the only means for information input and control for many purposes such as information recording/outputting, financial management, bill payment, personal communications and many more. With this regard, the heavy reliance on computer incurs a major concern for its security issue. A breach of information security due to unauthorized access to computers will widely jeopardize people's normal lives, business development, company operation and even national security. Conventional security measures such as PINs, tokens, or passwords can only provide limited protections since they themselves are subject to illegitimate activities. One weakness of the current authentication systems is that an identity thief can easily pass as the genuine owner with stolen personal identification information (e.g., a password). Behavioral biometric of keystroke dynamics can be harnessed to place an additional layer of stronger security on existing systems since biometric identifiers are intrinsic and harder to separate or mimic.
Therefore, there is a need for a self-powered touch sensor.
There is also a need for a keyboard that can sense identifiable characteristics of the user.